Cream of Radish Green and Beet Green Soup

No premade stock necessary! A heavy vegetable stock will drown out the flavor of the greens, so it's easier just to make a light stock from scratch as you prepare the greens.

I used:
1 onion
1 large potato
1 clove garlic
2 stalks celery
1 1/2 cups water
greens of 2 bunches radishes
greens of 2 beets
1/2 head romanesco broccoli
1 cup milk (buttermilk?)
a lot of salt

I simmered the onion, potato, garlic, and celery in the water for 20 minutes before adding radish and beet greens and the basil, which I then simmered for another fifteen minutes.

I pureed the whole mess, along with the milk. Then I added in some romanesco broccoli that I happened to have on hand, which I'd steamed separately. Then tried to 'reheat' the soup, even though it had only been off the stove for a minute or two. Lesson learned: don't try to reheat thick liquids that are already plenty hot! The soup started to boil, and the whole pot thumped around the stove spewing enormous scalding green bubbles onto my arms.

Oh, I added a good amount of salt, it needed it.

Overall, the soup did not quite have the bite I'd hoped for from the radish greens, but it did have an obscure, aromatic flavor. There aren't enough creamy soups out there, either, and I enjoyed it just for that aspect. Maybe with less potato, or without the blander beet greens, the radish flavor would have come through more. Even the actual radish slices seemed tamped down by the soup.

I was working loosely off a Moosewood recipe ("Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites," 82) which called for buttermilk. That probably would have given the soup the acidic kick it needed. Plus, it would have added a fermented element to the soup, which, as we know from the foodifesto, is a totally positive addition.

That bread in the photo is from a multi-grain loaf from the Truckee Sourdough Company, the best small bread bakery in all of the Sierra foothills, as far as I know. Moosewood reminds you to serve your soups with crusty bread and to preheat the bowls in the oven. I didn't follow this last direction because I was eating out of the neat wooden bowl Rose brought me from Kauai. But it does sound nice.